Damien Chazelle's movie "First Man" is the story of the moon landing. A number of people who have viewed the film have noted that there is no moonshot scene that specifically reenacts the iconic footage of the American flag being planted on the moon.

In a movie about WWII, would it be okay to omit the flag-raising scene at Iwo Jima?

It is impossible to discern the filmmaker's level of antipathy to American exceptionalism, but the reason for the omission is worth noting.

In a press conference, the director stated that because the flag planting was a "very famous moment", he chose to focus on the "un-famous stuff."

Ryan Gosling, who plays Neil Armstrong in the film, stated that the scene doesn’t appear because “First Man” chooses to cast the landing as a “human achievement" and not an American achievement.

No one explained how including the iconic scene of Armstrong planting the American flag on the moon would detract from or diminish the significance of this "human achievement." Aren't Americans humans?